CGS: Kay Scholarships for Adult Students: April 1 Deadline

Adult students with solid work or volunteer experience behind them have
a new opportunity to earn an undergraduate degree at Penn, through the new
Kay Scholarships of the College of General Studies. Although Penn employees
are covered by a different program,* members of their families are eligible
to apply for these full-tuition grants for part-time undergraduate study
toward a degree.

The Kay Scholarship, made possible by a gift of $336,000 from the family
of James Murray Kay, who graduated from CGS in 1955, is designed to recognize
"academically talented adults who have succeeded in a non-academic
sphere," said a CGS program announcement. "Successful applicants
will have at least five years of leadership experience in business, the
professions, public service, the non-profit sector or in their community,
as paid employees or volunteers. They will also have a strong academic
record from a community college or four-year institution and a demonstrated
interest in the arts and sciences.

"Though the University of Pennsylvania does not award collegiate
credit for life experience," the notice continues, " the new scholarship
will provide recipients with five courses a year for as long as it takes
a student to complete the Bachelor of Arts degree."

The first recipient of the Kay Scholarship is Beatrix Szepesi-Holland,
41, who began her career as an apprentice painter in 1978, became the first
journeywoman painter in Painters Union Local 703 in 1981, and opened her
own firm in 1984. Along the way she founded Tradeswomen of Philadelphia/Women
in Non-Traditional Jobs (TOP/WIN) a support group for blue-collar women
workers that eventually grew into an incorporated public service providing
resources for women in non-traditional trades.

The College of General Studies is currently accepting Kay Scholarship
applications for the fall 1998 semester. Applicants must first be admitted
to CGS as undergraduate degree candidate before applying for the Kay Scholarship.
The Scholarship application deadline is April 1, 1998. For more application
information on the College of General Studies and the Kay Scholarship, please
contact Assistant Dean Karen Weidel at 573-7537.